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Land Rover Defender gets new diesel for MY2012

The iconic Land Rover Defender is about to get a new diesel engine that will see it become the ‘greenest’ Defender since it’s original launch back in 1948.


Land Rover have confirmed that the company will show an all-new Defender Concept at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show, which would suggest that we’ll see a new series production Defender within a year or two.

The current generation Defender underwent something of a transformation in 2007 that saw considerable improvement in on road manners with more refinement, particularly with the suspension and transmission.

A new Euro5 compliant 2.2-litre diesel powertrain will replace the larger displacement Euro4 2.4-litre engine that powers the current Defender, but surprisingly, power and torque output will remain the same (90kW/360Nm).

With the reduced displacement come lower CO2 emissions, NOx and HC thanks to an improved combustion system and engine management program. Euro5 markets will also receive a Diesel Particulate Filter and emissions output on a combined cycle will be 266g/km for the Defender 90 and 295g/km for the 110 and 130 variants.

On road performance remains largely unchanged although, the Defender’s top speed will increase from 132km/h to 145 km/h.

Thankfully, the current six-speed transmission has been retained with its near perfect spread of gear ratios including a tall sixth gear for economical travel on freeways and the like.

Land Rover has modernised the Defender’s cabin over the years, and while it’s certainly no Discovery inside there. That said there are little or squeaks or unwanted rattles through the fascia, which is a single mould reinforced by a steel rail to minimise any movement between any gaps and the switchgear. CarAdvice recently took a Defender 110 off-road test and can clarify that fact. We will post that review next week along with some great photographs.

The Instruments are well laid out and easily read with full LED illumination.

Storage compartments are plentiful in the Defender too with a huge centre console box that can hold 14-litres of gear.

Land Rover have also improved the HVAC system as well with more robust units, which can deal with the more extreme temperatures that many Defenders operate in around the world.

CarAdvice will be reporting live at the Frankfurt Motor Show and look forward to posting a heap of photos of the new Defender Concept.

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